It was certainly a good idea to have a cycle ride on Friday as it started raining shortly after I returned to the camp site. This was not any rain, it was sub tropical rain and we heard about the flooding in Auckland, and realised that this was coming our way. I'm sure you will all have seen the reports of the dreadful flooding in Auckland but the rainfall was quite extraordinary. They experienced 26.7 cm (10.5 inches in old money) of rain in 24 hours which is the highest quantity ever experienced in NZ. This is even more extraordinary since parts of Fjordland (around Te Anau and Manapouri on the west coast of the south island are amongst the wettest places on earth.
To put it in context with West Sussex, Amberley's wettest month is November and the average rainfall for November is 11cm or 4.3 inches. Auckland experienced 2.5 times that amount in one day.
Very sadly lives have been lost and a national emergency has been declared.
There was no alternative but to hunker down and we were, and are, very comfortable in our Motor Home. Hawkes Bay is known to have the best overall climate in NZ so I guess we are in a good place. It rained, rained and rained - not just torrential but monsoon like. The biggest issue was that the camp site was becoming waterlogged and Ray was becoming concerned about our ability to drive the Motor Home out.
Regular checks were made on the weather, and the roads, and we concluded that it was sensible to stay a few more days in the area. However, we decided to move to another site in Hastings 20 minutes south of Napier where there is a good site in parklands and which is very close to the centre and therefore all of the facilities. Our site north of Napier is a good one, but it is very close to the beach and exposed to Pacific weather.
Ray studied the forecast and rain was predicted to stop around 3 am with a much brighter morning. The decision was taken to leave about 09:30 which would have given a few hours for water to drain away. When awoke, we were very surprised at how much had drained away and getting out looked promising.
After extensive consultation with some charming and very helpful Maori ladies, it was decided that the best option was to reverse out across 30/40 feet of fairly waterlogged grass. Ray had little choice but to agree to execute the plan and the LLW joined the Maori ladies in pointing and shouting as the 8M long and very heavy Motor Home lumbered backwards. Miraculously it worked and Cara was soon on terra firma. We waved goodbye to our new found Maori friends and tentatively headed out on the the Napier/Hastings expressway to travel the few miles south. We had heard horror stories about the state of the roads but this particular road was in excellent condition, in spite of considerable flooding in the fields to either side, it was clear of water apart from one roundabout which had one lane closed.
In no time at all we were in Hastings and first port of call was Countdown to stock up for a day or so. The restocking was quickly completed and dinner tonight is roast chicken with a very nice pinot noir. The camp site was only 5 minutes away and as you can see it looks very serene. We had a short cycle ride through the park and are now settled down with an aperitif.
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